The seller has just emailed me to say that Paypal have withdrawn the money from his account.
Do I just wait until it appears on my credit card and then ship it back to him or do I ship it back asap?
At the moment I don't see anything on my own account and the credit card company say it could take up to seven working days to appear on my online statement.
Are you still liasing with him through paypal?.
I know when i had a similar situation, when i opened a paypal dispute and then escalated it to a claim, they automatically took the funds from the sellers account, to ensure that if you win the dispute that the money is there to pay you back.
If I were you, I would contact paypal by email to confirm they have seized his funds about this matter, if they have, then ship the package back to him, fully insured with tracking.That way he cannot say he never had it returned or it was even more damaged.Just re-package it exactly how you received it and (once paypal confirm the money seizure) send it back. Once he receives it back you should then get your refund.
At least thats how it worked for me.
Hope it all works out
x